Worldwide:
Key IP Trends To Watch For In 2020

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A new decade is upon us, and its first two months have
veered between ordinary and chaotic. Somewhere in the middle of
that spectrum lie a handful of developments relevant to the field
of Intellectual Property.

Right now, it is not clear if IP's changes will materialize
at blistering speed or a more measured pace, but 2020 is set to
feature several key IP law trends.

Diagnostic patents will stay status quo in American IP law, for
now

The 2010s were a curious decade for IP cases in the highest
court of the U.S. Numerous decisions, including Alice Corp. v
CLS Bank and Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus
Labs added knottier caveats to the already complex, but, up to
that point, well-established - spiderweb of American IP law.
Recently, the Supreme Court declined a case that could have shook
up IP regulations:

In Athena Diagnostics v. Mayo
Collaborative Services, Athena tried to protect its new
method for diagnosing a chronic autoimmune disease from alleged
infringement by Mayo (the same firm that took Prometheus to court
in 2012 over a similar issue).

The precedent cited by Mayo established that processes
contingent on "laws of nature" could not be patented.
Since the Athena method involved detecting a naturally occurring
molecule, it fell under that purview.

On January 13, 2020, the Court denied Athena's request -
contrary to the expectations of many in the IP law community - so
Mayo's precedent stands. Anyone working in medicine or
throughout the life sciences will continue to be frustrated in
their efforts to patent similar techniques.

But the Supreme Court is not done handling IP cases by a long
shot. The justices are currently hearing Romag Fasteners v.
Fossil, in which the plaintiff argues Fossil infringed on its
profits when it used counterfeit Romag magnetic snaps in its
handbags. Since the current court leans in a fairly traditionalist
direction (given its inflexibility in a case like Athena),
the judges are most likely to side with the plaintiff. Bold changes
to American IP law will probably be seen in Congress before they
surface in the court system.

Domain names could be better protected

On the other hand, the Supreme Court seems entirely more willing
to debate the validity of domain names receiving
protections under the same criteria that give trademarks their
status as registered IP.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied
Booking.com's trademark application in 2017, arguing that
"Booking.com" was too generic to a trademark under
similar patent criteria. The business first disputed this right
before the Eastern District Court of Virginia (E.D. Va.), which
ruled in the company's favor. Then, the USPTO brought the
matter to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. When that body
backed up the E.D. Va. decision, the government petitioned for and
received Supreme Court certiorari. Oral arguments for USPTO v.
Booking.com BV will begin March 23.

Precedent exists that should give Booking.com hope. For example,
"weather.com" is a USPTO-registered trademark of The
Weather Channel, and Ancenstry.com enjoys the same protections.
Both those names are "generic" by any objective standard,
so why not for the travel site? Yet, no matter what happens with
the ruling, it might encourage companies to be more creative with
domain names to avoid the issue altogether.

APAC-area IP surge will continue

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released its
World Intellectual Property
Indicators (WIPI) report in late 2019. Among many other
insights, it revealed more than half of 2018's patent filings
came from China, amounting to 1.54 million applications. Japan and
South Korea were not far behind, with about 313,000 and 209,000,
respectively.

Combine this with other recent developments, like China adopting
numerous new IP protections and working to resolve its
tariff-fueled trade dispute with the U.S. What do you get? Clear
indicators that China aims to step forward as one of the
world's hotbeds for invention, with its neighbors keeping their
already-strong positions in that hierarchy.

UK and EU IP protections will remain - if inventors are
careful

The EU and UK have separated, but the latter must nonetheless
follow the former's regulations until a "transition
period" ends December 31. The gap exists for the parties to
devise a mutually beneficial trade deal. UK Prime Minister Boris
Johnson asserts this is eminently possible, while European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is more skeptical. We
have put together a brief guide to cover all notable
changes that Brexit will have on IP rights holders and the
steps patents and trademark applicants may need to take to ensure
nothing goes awry with their IPRs.

Whether there is a deal or not, IP protections will remain in
place for both regions: The UK Intellectual Property Office will
"clone" all existing EU trademarks held by British
inventors and likely approve its pending trademark applications.
However, in the interest of being safe rather than sorry,
applicants waiting for approval from the UKIPO or the European
Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) should probably file a
matching request in the opposite office. With trademark and IP law professionals
certified to handle such matters, Dennemeyer could well be such
applicants' best place to turn.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

The most essential part of the trademark creation process, even before thinking about the tactics and strategies to follow, is to find the core idea behind your business's branding. The reason is primarily...

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